Frits Schlingemann

Frits Schlingemann has a longstanding engagement with the Tehran Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea. Frits headed UNEP’s Regional Office for Europe from 1996 till 2009, and in this position he was servicing the negotiations of the Convention, leading to its conclusion at the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Tehran in November 2003. As the UNEP Regional Representative and Director for the Regional Office for Europe and later its Senior Advisor, he managed the interim Secretariat of the Convention (TCIS), spearheading the development and negotiations of all the Convention products up till today, including the Environmental Monitoring Program and 4 ancillary Protocols.

Frits has been leading TCIS in servicing the preparations for and holding of up to five conferences of the Parties, including the most recent one, end May 2014 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, at which the Parties decided to (re)locate the Secretariat to the region. Frits has advised the Parties in their annual strategic planning, chaired at request many of the meetings and contributed to the development of all Convention documents. His work and dedication is highly appreciated and GRID-Arendal is very pleased with his involvement in the further development of the Tehran Convention process.